TMCNET eNEWSLETTER SIGNUP

BMC's mobile tower policy to go in for final nod next week [Mumbai] [Times of India]

(Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) MUMBAI: A year after the BMC started formulating a policy on mobile towers, it will finally be tabled at the civic improvements committee next week. With that, the policy will reach its final stage of approval. It can then be implemented, paving the way for the setting up of new mobile towers that have been put on hold for a long time.

The policy, which will be heard and debated upon on Monday, will be sent to the civic general body once the improvements panel gives the nod. "We will examine the policy. If the members have any suggestions, we will consider those," said Ram Barot, chairman of the improvements committee.

Under the new policy, only one tower is allowed atop a building, the minimum distance between two towers should be 30m and to erect a tower on top of a building, consent has to be taken from 70% members of a housing society as well as all the members of the top floor. The final draft disallows mobile towers on top of schools, hospitals and within 100-m-radius of such institutions. A structural stability certificate is also required to be obtained before the towers are installed.

After it was approved by the municipal commissioner, the civic body had sent the final draft of the cell tower policy to the state, in response to the mobile tower policy prepared by the government for entire Maharashtra. Confirming that the final draft had already been dispatched to the government, a senior official of the civic development plan department said, "But we need the approval of the improvements committee as well as the civic general body before it can be implemented."
"The guidelines have been prepared, taking into account the opinions of citizens as well as political representatives. The basic frame is based on revised norms of the department of telecommunications," said the official.

Another official said a committee would be set up in every zone under deputy municipal commissioners that will hear complaints if there is any violation of the policy. "All the existing mobile towers will also have to adhere to the new norms if they want there licences to be renewed," he added.